Jim's Book

3 Jim's Calling

In 1977 Jim turned twenty-five. He was living in Eltham, in the third year of his PhD, and he felt ready to marry — only he couldn't find anybody he liked. It was deeply frustrating. ‘I was getting absolutely nowhere, and the years were passing,' Jim said. He regretted the choice he'd made at twenty to break up with his then girlfriend. Why couldn't they have met when he was ready for marriage? ‘I missed her badly. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to find anybody I liked,' Jim said.

His introversion didn't help. He hated parties and didn't have the courage to approach girls. Plus, his research was his main focus. ‘I didn't have much of a connection with the wider world,' he said. His goal was to finish his PhD and begin his academic career, hopefully finding the right girl along the way and having children. (He couldn't wait to be a father — in fact, later, when he was newly married, he became a sperm donor as ‘a public service', as he said).

He was mowing lawns one day a week, enough to fund his frugal lifestyle. This frugality has stuck: even today he hates spending money, buying home brand at the supermarket despite his family's preference for better-quality products. ‘In those days I never spent anything,' Jim said. This did not, however, extend to his fledgling business. He didn't look after his mowers well and they often needed repair. He always went to the same mower shop in Eltham, owned by a bloke called Tom. ‘You know,' Tom told him once, ‘you ...